genetics
Startup Patents Eugenics Tool to Build Your Best Baby
Nitasha Tiku · 10/03/13 02:45PMThe genetics testing company 23andme was recently awarded a patent it applied for five years ago. According to PandoDaily, the patent covers a "calculator" that lets "people to pick and choose traits of their future child." Anne Wojcicki, the CEO of 23andme and wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, is listed as the lead inventor.
Antonin Scalia Does Not Believe in Molecular Biology
Max Read · 06/13/13 10:43AMScientists Discover How White Tigers Got Their Stripes
Maggie Lange · 05/23/13 01:25PMScientists have discovered the genetic trait that results in white tigers, something originally only explained by Just So Stories logic. The trait, which caused their fur to have white accents rather than orange ones, was long known to be a recessive trait. New research has isolated a change in a specific part of one gene that causes this mutation. Humans can have the same trait, as can some mice, horses, and fish.
Science Says Tomatoes Will Be Tastier in 5 Years; ‘Yeah Right, Like I Would Ever Eat a Tomato, What Is That, Even?’ Says America
Caity Weaver · 05/30/12 09:26PMZooey Deschanel Resembles Parent
Max Read · 04/06/12 09:31AMÖtzi the Iceman had Deep, Soulful Brown Eyes
Caity Weaver · 02/28/12 09:54PMDolphin Sex Memoirist: Genetic Engineering to Create Animorph Sex Fiends
Maureen O'Connor · 09/30/11 05:03PMOn the eve of Florida's bestiality ban, let's catch up with zoophilic memoirist Malcolm Brenner, whose book Wet Goddess describes a nine-month sexual relationship with a theme park dolphin in Sarasota. After two weeks living in the eye of a bestiality news storm, Brenner lost his job as a photographer and endured harassment. But he's also had sucess: Orders for his book are pouring in faster than he can fill them. He is in touch with an editor at a "large New York publishing house," and has told his story to audiences as far away as India.
Scientists Creating Alligator-Chickens
Lauri Apple · 08/21/11 03:18PMTim Pawlenty Thinks Scientists are 'in Dispute' About Homosexuality
Max Read · 07/10/11 11:45AMScientists—like, actual scientists, with real degrees and a belief in the scientific method—agree that people do not choose their sexual orientation. Someone should tell Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty! Because he seems to think that "the science in that regard is in dispute."
Why You Don't Have a Spiny Penis
Max Read · 03/10/11 02:02AMHuman penises, much to the relief of most humans, lack the "barb-like structures found in many mammals" known as penile spines. For many of us, knowing that we will never encounter a barbed penis is enough; for scientists, who are the guy at the party saying, "I mean, sure, it's a nice present, but have you checked out its teeth?" the human penis's curious lack of spines is a question to be asked, and answered, and told to everyone.
We Could Have Real-Live Mammoths in 2015
Max Read · 01/16/11 10:12PMDo You Have the Slutty Gene?
Max Read · 12/02/10 03:45AMOzzy Osbourne's Survival Secret: He's a Mutant Freak
Brian Moylan · 11/03/10 04:39PMFDA says Genetically-Modified Frankenfish Is Safe to Eat
Adrian Chen · 09/04/10 03:43PMYou Could Be Eating This 'Frankenfish' in 18 Months
Max Read · 08/26/10 01:47AMBerkeley Undertakes Massive Hippie Gene Harvest
Hamilton Nolan · 05/19/10 11:21AMCeleb Fertility Clinic Moves East
cityfile · 09/01/09 08:13AMThat sperm bank that allows its clients to search for donors based on how much they resemble various celebrities is setting up shop in NYC. The California-based company says it will be "fully operational within two months at a Park Ave. space." It also says it will be looking for new donors, so if you're male, reasonably healthy, and bear a passing resemblance to anyone famous who has ever lived, you probably qualify. If the NYC location is anything like the one in LA, the standards won't be all that high. In addition to Ian Ziering, Corey Haim and Lou Ferrigno, the sperm bank says it has a Jon Gosselin lookalike, too. [NYDN, previously]
Sperm Bank For the Celebrity-Obsessed
cityfile · 08/07/09 03:48PMA sperm bank in California is now allowing clients to choose an anonymous donor based on how much he resembles a particular celebrity. Want to be impregnated by a man who may (or may not!) look like Ben Affleck, currently the most searched-for celeb at the clinic? You now have that option! But don't expect any guarantees. Explains an employee of the sperm bank: "The goal was not to say you can have a baby that looks like Bob Saget," Brown said. "The goal was to say this donor happens to resemble this celebrity." Bob Sagat? Now that donor is going to be a busy man. [CNN]
Rupert Murdoch's Genetic Destiny Revealed
Ryan Tate · 09/14/08 10:22PMSure, you knew Anderson Cooper was the adorable unicorn of TV news anchors, but did you know he is so incredibly magical he can roll his tongue into a "really complicated four-leaf clover?" He can! Tongue-rolling is a genetic trait, but one can't help wonder if Cooper has had some practice. He apparently shows his skills only to certain, uh, special friends, like fellow closeted media personality Barry Diller, who, no joke, compared tongue technique with Cooper at a special retreat in Idaho. Some Google people were there, and the next thing you know, the tonguing had resulted in a big genetic-testing soiree in New York! Here's what Ivanka Trump and Rupert Murdoch said about their DNA at the party: